


A Crisis of Character

by brinshannara



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Earth, Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), F/F, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22063087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brinshannara/pseuds/brinshannara
Summary: I don't know how Crisis on Infinite Earths ends, but this is my take on it. You should be familiar with what's happened in the first three episodes of Crisis but if you're not, you should be able to work it out from what I've written.Typically, I revisit canon around New Year's and try to write a fix-it fic for Alex and Maggie and this is what I came up with this year. It's not my usual kind of story, but I hope you like it. Happy New Year!
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer
Comments: 44
Kudos: 128





	A Crisis of Character

**Author's Note:**

> Though you don't absolutely have to, you may want to read the following fics _before_ reading this one:
> 
> \- [Earth Five](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14208063)  
> \- [Earth Six](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17252189)  
> \- [Earth Ten](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751366)  
> \- [Earth Twenty-Four](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16933710)  
> \- [Earth Twenty-Seven](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395968)  
> \- [Earth Thirty-Four](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17322491)  
> \- [Earth Forty-Two](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891301)  
> 

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

After a few moments, she was breathing more easily, her heart wasn't thudding in her chest and she could look around. It was a bright room, with several hospital beds, all of which were empty. She was on the one on the far-right of the small room, which didn't appear to have any doorways or windows. The entire room seemed to emit a soft, diffuse, white light. She frowned. What was going on? And where was Maggie? Hadn't she just been with her? She swung her legs off the bed and walked around. It was maybe twenty-five feet by fifteen feet, so it wasn't particularly small, but it wasn't enormous. Most of the room was taken up by the beds on the one side. She approached the far wall and bent down to see the corners and saw no seams where the white construction material, whatever it was, should have seams. There were no external lights, yet the room was pleasantly bright.

"What the hell is going on?" she wondered.

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"Hey, hey," a familiar voice said, "relax. It's okay. You're safe."

Her eyes flew open, and she saw herself approaching her. Still unable to breathe properly, she reached for her sidearm, which, she discovered, she didn't have on her.

The other Alex raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, now," she said, "don't shoot, it's me. I mean, I'm you. You're me. Or something," she babbled.

She forced herself to breathe.

"That's right," she said, "calm down." Her arms came down, slowly. "It's okay, Alex."

"Who are you?" she rasped.

"You, I guess," she said.

"Explain."

She chuckled and ran her hand through her hair, which was much shorter than her own. She frowned as she looked at the other woman. She looked like her, sounded like her, but there were differences. The hair, for one, but the outfit. This one was wearing heavy boots with her jeans, and what looked like a t-shirt and a leather jacket, with a flannel plaid shirt tied around her waist. Alex Danvers was certain she'd stopped wearing flannel plaid shirts around her waist in her adolescence.

"I can't really explain it," her doppelganger said. "The last thing I remember is that I was with my fiancée and the sky went red and then I ended up here." She pointed to the bed to Alex's right. "And then a few minutes later, you appeared."

She took a breath, calmer, her heart no longer pounding. "Where are we?"

"Beats me," she said.

"A red sky?"

She nodded.

"I saw that, too. My wife and I were at her parents' and the sky went red and now I'm here."

"That's exactly what happened to me. What's going on?"

"I don't know." She frowned. "Are you from the future?"

"It's 2019, almost 2020 where I am."

"Same here." She considered. "How long has the king been on the throne for you?"

She snorted. "The king? The king of what, AMERICA?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Well, France and New France and the territories."

"The French? Listen, lady, I don't know what the hell kind of Earth you're from, but we don't have a French king. We're part of the British Commonwealth."

She laughed so hard that she coughed. "The British have a Commonwealth?"

"And a queen."

"A queen!" It was just so ridiculous to her, she laughed again, causing another coughing fit.

"Okay, so we're obviously from different Earths," she said, once she'd regained her ability to breathe. "Is your fiancée named Maggie or something similar?"

She nodded. "Maggie Sawyer. You?"

"Marguerite Rodas Danvers."

"So you're French."

"Well, we're all French subjects, but that's probably not important," she said. "Do you know about the multiverse theory?"

The other Alex shook her head. "Nope. I'm a lab tech who stares at petri dishes most of the time. You?"

"I'm a federal agent with the Deuxième Bureau." The other Alex looked blank. "Uh, I guess the closest explanation is military intelligence."

"Oh," she said, "like spies?"

"Spycraft is something we do, sure, but it's not our primary mission." She considered. "What about your sister?"

"I don't have a sister."

She frowned. "No Kara?"

"I told you," she said, "I don't have a sister."

"Interesting. Tell me, Alex, are there superheroes on your world?"

"What the hell is a superhero?"

"Merde," she muttered. "It's someone, usually with otherworldly powers, who helps defend the world against various threats."

"Wait, wait, you're telling me we're from different Earths and yours has  _ aliens _ ?"

"Yours doesn't?"

"Not as far as I know." She turned and leaned against the far wall, her arms folded across her chest, her fingertips tapping her bicep. "So all we have in common is that we're both Alex Danvers and both with Maggie?"

"It would appear so," she said. "Fascinating."

"Yeah, sure, this is fascinating. Is one of your superheroes going to rescue us from wherever we are?"

"I would hope so."

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"Merde. Another one?" a voice asked from her right.

"Well, shit," said someone else, from somewhere in front of her.

She forced herself to breathe, to relax, to calm down.

"It's all right," said the voice to her right. "You're safe."

She opened her eyes and looked over, only to see herself reassuring her. "What the hell?" she croaked, still not breathing right.

"Oh not again," the other voice whined. She looked over and there was  _ another  _ person who looked just like her.

"Quiet, don't scare her," said the closer one. "It's all right, Alex," she said. "You're among friends. Just breathe."

Alex listened to her and breathed in and out, slowly. Once her heart stopped threatening to burst from her chest, she looked around. "Where are we?"

"We don't know," the Alex on the other side of the room said.

"Where's Maggie?" she exclaimed, suddenly, remembering that she had just been with her girlfriend.

"Well, at least we all have good taste," the far Alex quipped.

"Quiet," the one closer to her said. "Listen, it appears that we're all from different Earths. Are you aware of the multiverse theory?"

"You're telling me not to scare her and the first thing you tell her is that we're from different Earths and start talking about the multiverse?" The Alex against the wall snorted and walked towards them. "Hey," she said, addressing Alex. "Things are really confusing right now and we're just trying to figure things out. What's the last thing you remember?"

She took a breath. "Walking with my girlfriend, Maggie, when the sky turned red. And then… nothing. Then I was here."

The Alex next to her nodded. "The same with us, largely," she said. She stood and walked into the center of the room, placing her hands on her hips, surveying the situation. This Alex wore a pantsuit, while the other was dressed casually, in jeans and a leather jacket, her hair cropped short.

"So what's the multiverse?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear this myself," the Alex with the shorter hair said, folding her arms across her chest, the leather of her jacket squeaking.

The Alex in the pantsuit shook her head. "You appeared there, right?" she said, pointing to the bed two beds over from where Alex was sitting.

She nodded.

"And I appeared here," she said, pointing to the one next to Alex's own. "And you just appeared here." She pointed at the remaining beds. "We've got five more to go, it seems."

"This just got way too confusing," Alex confessed.

The one in the center of the room, she had to be a police officer or federal agent, nodded. "Sorry," she said. "The multiverse is a theory where many Earths all occupy the same space, but vibrate at slightly different frequencies."

Short-haired Alex snorted. "Vibrating?"

"Yes, everything has a natural resonance frequency, and the theory is that each Earth exists, overlapping one another, but remains hidden from view because of their vibrational frequency."

Alex nodded. "Okay, okay, I get it," she said. "I remember reading about that in university. So is that true, then? Is it confirmed?"

"It seems to be," Agent Alex said. "At least if this is all real and not, you know, some kind of afterlife or purgatory or something."

Short-haired Alex's eyebrows rose, and she turned back towards the other Alex. "I'm sorry, you think this might be  _ the afterlife _ ?"

She shrugged. "We don't have enough information to make any good guesses right now. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Listen, I don't know who the hell you think you are," she said, arms falling from their crossed position, as she stormed towards the other Alex, "but you can't just dismiss me." She shook her head. "Maybe I don't have your fancy background, whatever that is, but we're all Alex Danvers, it seems, so can you at least shelve the raging bitch side of you for five minutes?"

"Oh dear," Alex muttered, standing up before the agent did anything untoward. "Ladies, ladies," she said, approaching them, standing to one side and placing one of her hands each on one of their shoulders. "Let's all just relax, okay? We're not in imminent danger, it seems. We're safe for the time being." She turned to the agent. "Would you like to apologize?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I was dismissive."

Alex cleared her throat and squeezed the agent's shoulder.

"I mean," she said, "I'm sorry that I was dismissive."

"Very good," she said, turning to the short-haired Alex. "Do you have anything to say?"

"I'm sorry I snapped."

"See?" she said, squeezing both of their shoulders before releasing them. "It's easy to get along when we try." She smiled brightly.

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"Merde, here we go again."

"Oh dear."

"Shit."

Alex opened her eyes and saw three other Alex Danvers staring at her. She sucked in air as her mind whirred, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

"It's okay," one of them said, coming towards her. "You're safe. Try to relax. Try to take some deep breaths. You'll feel better."

"Sunshine," she grunted.

"No, it's not sunshine," she said, "the light is artificial. Relax. Just breathe."

She shook her head. "Maggie," she wheezed.

"Jesus, is there a single Earth where we're not with Maggie?" one of them muttered.

"Doesn't look like it," another said. "That's four for four now."

"Yes, I can count, thanks."

It was very odd, Alex decided, to see herself arguing… with herself, while she struggled to breathe.

"It's okay," the third Alex said, rubbing her back lightly. "Just relax."

"Thanks," she said, a few moments later, after her heart stopped hurling itself against her ribcage. She nodded. "I'm okay." She took another breath. "So what the hell is going on?"

An Alex with short hair turned to the one in the pantsuit. "Do not start right away with the whole theory thing, all right?"

The Alex she'd addressed raised her hands in surrender. "Go for it, then."

The short-haired Alex approached the foot of the bed. "What's the last thing you remember?"

She thought about it. "I was with Sunshine, uh, my wife, Maggie."

"We all have impeccable taste, apparently," she grinned. "Go on."

"We were having dinner at a restaurant, and the sky turned red." She thought about it. "And now I'm here." She looked around. "Where am I? And where's Maggie?"

The gentler Alex, as she thought of her, nodded. "Same thing for us. We were all with Maggie when the sky went red."

"Can I ask her now?" the pantsuit Alex asked. She looked remarkably like Alex did when she was at work, down to the hairstyle.

"Yeah," the short-haired one said.

"You a fed?" Alex asked.

The pantsuit Alex nodded.

"Me too," she said. She felt better, knowing that the two of them could handle just about anything. She took another breath. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Do you know about the theory of the multiverse?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What, like parallel dimensions?"

"Exactly."

"I mean, I've heard of it," she said, "but I didn't know it was real."

"Neither did we," the fed replied. "Not until now, when it seems that four very different Alex Danvers are meeting here, each from a very different Earth."

Alex considered. "But we're all named Alex Danvers? And we're all married to Maggie?"

"Dating," the nice Alex next to her said.

"Engaged," said short-haired Alex.

"Married here," said the fed.

"Well, that's interesting." She looked around. "Eight beds but four of us?"

"We suspect four more are incoming," the fed replied.

She nodded. "Interesting." Her eyes wandered across the room. "No entrances or exits?"

"None," confirmed the short-haired Alex.

"Where's the air coming from?" she asked.

As one, they looked up, half-expecting to see vents of some sort, but there was nothing. She strained her ears, listening for any hiss of air, anything at all, but heard nothing but the breathing of the others.

"Yeah, this is getting weird," she said, "even for me."

"Even for you?" asked the closest Alex to her. "Do you have an especially strange life?" she smiled.

"Well, I met my wife on a reality game show where she won a million dollars."

"Survivor?" she asked.

"Well, at least we both have Survivor on our worlds," she laughed.

"Wait, is that the dumb show where you vote people off the island?" the short-haired Alex asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's dumb, but that's the show," she confirmed.

"We have it, too."

"But none of you were on it?"

Short-haired Alex laughed. "Not only no, but hell no."

"Not me," the nice Alex said. "Is your show's host Jeff Probst?"

"It is!" She shook her head. "Okay, now it's getting weird. So many similarities, but massive differences."

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"And there's another one," a nearby voice said.

"Is she wearing scrubs?"

"Doctor or nurse?"

"Please, she's got to be a doctor."

She struggled to open her eyes while trying to regain control of her breath. She felt a hand gently rubbing her back and looked over to her right, where another Alex Danvers was smiling at her. And beyond her, three other Alex Danvers.

She blinked. "The hell?" she panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Relax," the Alex next to her said. "You're safe. It's okay. Just try to breathe. You'll feel better in a minute."

The three others spoke in hushed tones together while Alex tried to stop her heart from trying to leap out of her chest. She took several deep breaths and her head stopped spinning. "All right," she said, "what's going on?"

"We're all wondering that," two of them said in unison.

"What's the last thing you remember?" the Alex in the bed next to her asked.

She took a breath and closed her eyes. It was hard to remember, like it was a lifetime ago, or something. "I was in the hospital, in the emergency room, helping someone…" She frowned. "There was this red light, and that's it. That's all I remember."

"We've all experienced something that like," one of them said, walking over to her. "Are you, uh… is there a special someone in your life?"

She looked askance at this doppelganger. "I have a girlfriend named Maggie. Why?"

She nodded. "We all have a girlfriend, a fiancée or a wife named Maggie."

"For real?"

"Yes," said an Alex wearing a pantsuit, walking up to her, hands on her hips. She clearly thought she was in charge here. "All of us are Alex Danvers and we're all involved with Maggie. But we suspect we're all from different worlds."

"Oh, no, not the stupid multiverse," she complained.

"You know of it?"

She sighed heavily. "I'm guessing you all have an alien for a sister too?"

"All of them, but not me," said the Alex with the short hair.

"Well, my sister is Supergirl on my world, which I'm told is Earth Twenty-Seven. She's encountered people from other worlds, such as Earth One, who have mapped out the entire multiverse."

"And?" the pantsuit-wearing Alex asked.

"And, I just don't really get along with Kara, so I don't know much else. I just know that my world is Earth Twenty-Seven."

"And you're a doctor," the Alex who had asked about Maggie said.

"Yes." She looked around. "Anyone's sister come to find them yet? Because I'm pretty sure mine isn't going to come looking for me anytime soon."

"That's a good point," pantsuit-Alex said. "Where  _ are  _ our Karas? Wouldn't any of them be here already?"

"There might be a time difference between here and there," the Alex in the bed next to her said. "Maybe we've been gone an hour for us, but maybe it's been seconds on our Earths."

"Relative time dilation," pantsuit-Alex nodded. "That's possible."

"What's that mean?" asked the short-haired Alex.

"That time can move at different rates in the two separate places," pantsuit-Alex replied. "Or, rather, six places," she said. "Five of us, so five worlds plus here. Wherever here is."

"Whenever here is," another Alex said.

"Well, maybe we'll get more clues if the other ones show up," said the Alex in the next bed.

"The others?" she asked.

She pointed to the left and Alex saw three more beds.

"Well, now, this should be interesting." She carefully got out of bed. "Anyone mind if I take your pulse? We have anything to write with?"

Pantsuit-Alex produced a notepad. "I can record the vitals."

"Well, the pulse will be an approximation, plus I don't have a thermometer or a sphygmomanometer." She looked around at the mostly questioning faces. "The blood pressure cuff thing, you know? That you squeeze air into?"

"Oh," at least three of them said, as one.

"All right, me first," she said, looking at her watch and finding her pulse on her neck. 21 beats in 15 seconds meant 84 beats per minute. "84," she said. "Not great, but understandable."

"I'll go next," said the Alex still sitting on the bed.

She walked up to her and easily found her pulse point in her left wrist and watched the time. "76 beats per minute. Who's next?"

"I'll go," said the Alex who was standing between the two beds.

She repeated the process. "80."

The short-haired Alex volunteered next and her heart rate was 64.

Finally, the pantsuit-wearing Alex clocked in at a 72.

"All reasonable," she said.

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"Is she… is she wearing a skirt?"

"The skirt? Look at the hair! She looks like she's from the 1950s."

"Well, this is going to be an interesting one."

"Ladies! I'm sure you're not helping. Hey, Alex, it's okay," a voice said, "it's okay. Just relax. Try to breathe."

She drew in a shaky breath and coughed immediately.

"It's all right, Alex," someone else said.

"Alexandra," she got out.

"Who goes by Alexandra?" someone asked.

She coughed and opened her eyes to find five separate Alexandras looking at her. "Goodness," she exhaled, before pulling in a fresh lungful. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

"Just relax," one of them said. "Just breathe."

She nodded. "I'm okay," she rasped. "What's going on?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked the kind, reassuring one of them.

"I was making dinner for my husband and children and the sky went red… and I remember nothing else."

An Alexandra with short hair looked at her, folding her arms across her chest. "Your husband?"

"Yes, Duncan," she said, frowning.

She snorted. "Well, who wants to break the news to her?"

"Alex!" a nearby Alexandra chided. She turned back to her. "Listen, it's okay. We're all Alex, or, well, I guess, Alexandra Danvers here, okay? There's no need to be afraid."

She met her gaze, locking brown eyes to brown eyes. There was no way she could trust any of them, could she? It was surely a trap to get her to out herself as a Liker. "I'm not afraid," she said, "I'd just like to get home to my family."

"Uh, everyone who doesn't have a husband, let's have a quick word over here, shall we?" said an Alexandra wearing what appeared to be a suit.

She watched, from a distance, as they chatted quietly, observing them. One of the Alexandras, the one with the short hair, was dressed like a man. Not even a particularly well-dressed man, either. And her attitude screamed cockiness, confidence. She frowned. None of them were dressed decently, respectably. One was wearing… sneakers? With pajamas? Something was very, very wrong.

"Look, if no one wants to do it, I'll do it, all right?" the short-haired Alexandra said.

"Fine," said the one wearing the suit, clearly exasperated with the other one.

"Oh dear," said another one, as the short-haired Alexandra walked over to her.

"Look, this might be difficult for you to hear, but none of us are married to a man. All of us are involved with a woman named Maggie."

She frowned, unsure if she could trust her.

"If you're involved with a Maggie, just know we'll do everything we can to get you back to her, okay?" She smiled. "I promise."

She exhaled. "Oh, thank goodness."

"See, I told you!" she called back to the group. "I knew it. We all love a Maggie. Some of us are married to ours. I'm marrying mine in a few months," she said.

"It's… it's not illegal for you?"

"Illegal? Hell no, we got the right to marry ages ago. Almost twenty years ago, now," she said.

"My word, that's very different from where I'm from. I'm married to a man and we have two amazing daughters, but…"

"But Maggie. Right?"

"But Maggie," she smiled.

"All right, Alexandra, I—"

"Alex. Please," she said.

"Ah. Alexandra pleases society and Alex pleases you, is that it?"

She nodded.

"No worries, Alex. We've got you." She beckoned another one over. "This Alex is a doctor—"

"Really?" Her eyes went wide, and she looked up at her. "An actual doctor?"

"Yeah," she said. "Do you mind if I take your heart rate?"

"Go ahead," she said.

The doctor rested her fingers across her left wrist and looked at her watch. "88. A little high, but good, all things considering," she said, while the Alexandra in a suit scribbled something down in a notepad.

"You can be a doctor where you're from… That's amazing. So good for the women, I imagine. Equality seems virtually assured."

"It's not like that for you?" another Alexandra asked.

She shook her head. "Where are you all from?"

The Alexandra in a suit stepped up. "We think we're all from different versions of Earth," she said. "So in your version, it's illegal to be with another woman?"

She nodded.

"In hers," she said, indicating the short-haired Alexandra, "and mine," she said, displaying her wedding band, "it's perfectly legal."

"Fascinating." She looked around. "How did you all get here?"

The short-haired Alexandra shrugged. "Same as you — we saw the red light and then we woke up here. And there are likely to be two more people joining us," she said, pointing at the beds. "Hopefully, we won't have to wait too much longer to get some answers."

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"Here we go again," someone muttered.

"Quiet, she'll hear you."

"Hey Alex," someone said, gently, over to her left. "It's okay. Just relax and let yourself breathe. It's all right."

She coughed, struggling to breathe. It was unfamiliar to her. It felt as though she'd just run three dashes in a row. It was like a weight on her chest. She drew in a shaky breath, only to cough more. A comforting hand rubbed her back between her shoulder blades. "Just relax," she said, soothingly. The voice sounded oddly familiar. She opened her eyes and saw that the person rubbing her back was… herself. Only in scrubs. And with longer hair.

"What the hell?" She coughed weakly.

"Well, I officially am no longer the butchest of us all," someone remarked, over to her right. She moved her gaze over and saw not one but five other Alex Danvers looking at her.

"What the hell?" she repeated, with more strength.

"Just relax, let your heart rate slow down a bit," the Alex in scrubs said. "Can you tell us what the last thing you remember is?"

"I was on the track, training," she said, "when the sky went red." She considered and shook her head. "That's it. Then I was here."

"Yeah, we all experienced the same thing," she said. "Feeling better?"

"Physically, yeah," she said, only just panting a little. "Heart rate must be coming down." She slid her fingers to her neck and counted out 15 secundi. "72 beats per arc."

"Per minute?" the doctor asked.

"What's a minute?"

"Sixty seconds?"

"A secundo?" she asked.

"Probably close enough," she nodded. "Put her down as 72 bpm," she called out and another Alex, dressed up in a pantsuit, wrote it down.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around.

"We're not sure," the doctor said. "We think we're all from different versions of Earth."

Alex frowned as she got up and paced. She was still in her track outfit, sneakers, short shorts, a tank top. She wasn't cold, though, which was odd. "Like… what do you mean?"

The Alex who was dressed up as though she belonged at a 1990s grunge concert came up to her. "So, best as I can figure, everyone has their own Earth, right, so you do whatever sporty thing you do there—"

"I'm an Olympic gold medalist," she said.

"Right, obviously," she grinned. "This one is from a New France where there's a fucking king on the throne, if you can imagine." She pointed at another one. "This one met her wife on a game show where her wife won a million dollars."

She frowned. "Survivor?"

"That's the one," the Alex in question grinned.

"The show with that guy with the dimples?"

"Jeff Probst," another Alex added, helpfully.

"And then this one here," she said, pointing at the woman sitting demurely on the bed next to her own, "homosexuality is illegal on her Earth."

She frowned. "That's messed up."

"I quite agree," the woman on the bed smiled.

"So where's my girlfriend?"

"We're going to try to get us all back to our Maggies," the Alex in a pantsuit said. "It's all a little confusing right now, but we're hopeful we'll get more answers when the last Alex shows up."

"The last Alex?"

The doctor patted the last bed in the row. "We've each appeared on one of these beds, one after the other. One should show up any minute. Maybe then we'll know more."

  
  


***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

"See what I mean?" someone nearby asked.

"Well, that's not something you see every day," someone else answered.

"Relax, Alex, it's okay," someone said. "Just try to breathe."

She struggled to take in another breath and ended up coughing violently. "Ugh," she croaked.

"It's okay. Just breathe." Someone rubbed her back lightly. "Relax."

She forced herself to take some shallow breaths before taking deeper and longer ones. Finally, she looked up and saw a gaggle of other Alex Danvers looking at her and everything came back to her at once. "Oh, shit."

"It's okay, Alex," said the one who'd been rubbing her back. She was wearing scrubs. "I know it's confusing."

She shook her head. "It's not confusing." She drew in another breath. "You all saw a red sky too, I'm guessing?"

Confused, all seven of them nodded.

"So who here knows about the multiverse?" she asked. Only two raised their hands, one of them quite reluctantly, while the others murmured maybes and kindas.

She took another breath. "Long story short, there are 53 Earths. Earth One through to Earth 52, plus Earth X. They all occupy the same part of space and vibrate at different frequencies, so they're invisible to one another."

"I knew it," said the Alex in the pantsuit.

"I really hoped you would be wrong," said the doctor.

"So what's happening is that there's an antimatter wave that is moving through all the multiverse, eradicating all the worlds."

There was a collective gasp.

"My sister, maybe you have her, too, is a hero and they have chosen her as the Paragon of Hope, necessary to defeat the cause of this antimatter wave." She looked around and took another breath. "I think we may be the only Alex Danvers left in the universe," she said, looking at them all. "Worse, I think all the Earths have been wiped out." She exhaled and stood, hands on her hips. "I think we were all just dead for a little while before being revived here."

"Well, shit," said the Alex who looked like she was cosplaying Captain Marvel.

"Now, I don't know what the Paragons are doing—"

"Paragons?" asked the doctor. "More than one?"

"My sister and six other heroes," she explained. She took a breath. "I don't know what they're doing, but I can assure you, I will do my best to bring you back to your loved ones."

"I just want to get back to Maggie," complained the athlete.

"Me too," said the doctor.

"Ditto," said the one in the leather jacket.

Alex gaped as all seven other Alex Danvers proclaimed their desire to get back to Maggie.

"Are… are all of you with Maggie?"

"Are you not?" asked the one in the pantsuit.

"I, uh… I broke up with Maggie a couple of years ago."

The Alex in the leather jacket didn't take kindly to that. "I thought we were all supposed to be smart. How are you somehow stupid enough to break up with the love of your life?"

"Hey, now, she's not necessarily the love of my life," she said, defensively.

She shot her a look. "All of us here?" She waved her arm to encompass the whole room. "We're just trying to find our ways back to Maggie. Even the one where it's illegal to be gay in her world," she said, pointing at the one wearing the skirt. "If Maggie isn't the love of your life, then what are you fighting for?"

"I'm trying to get back to my home, same as you," she said. "And that includes my sister and J'onn and yes, my girlfriend, Kelly."

"Girlfriend," said the pantsuit Alex. "Not wife? Not fiancée?"

"No, it's, uh, it's still kind of new."

"If I may?" asked the Alex in a skirt.

"Of course."

"It seems to me as though you may be the odd one out here. All of us are madly, desperately in love with our Maggies."

"She doesn't want kids, okay?" Alex admitted. "She doesn't want kids."

"Does that matter right now?" the runner asked, disgust on her face. "If what you're saying is true, our worlds are gone. And what, you're going to let kids be what keeps you from getting home to Maggie? If you can even get back home?"

She sighed. "It's more complicated than that," she said.

The doctor looked at her with similar disgust. "How could you break up with her?"

"The one person who loved every single part of you," an Alex in jeans and a sweater added.

"She didn't love that I wanted to be a mom," she retorted.

"When you find the one, Alex," another, quieter Alex said, "then you hold on to her. You kiss the girl that you want to kiss and you hold her tight and you never, ever let her go."

"Listen, listen, I don't even know if my theory is right, okay? I don't know what the Paragons are doing."

There was a brilliant flash of light and Lyla, or perhaps more accurately, Harbinger, appeared in their room. "Allow me to explain. You are correct," she said. "You eight are all that remain of all the Alex Danvers across the entire multiverse."

The room was quiet.

"How many Earths remain?" Alex asked.

"Just one, and it will be repopulated with the best versions of its population."

"Wait, how?"

"The populations of different Earths will be merged into a single representative of that individual and that is the individual who will live on the single Earth that remains."

They all murmured quietly.

"Who's the single representative of Alex Danvers, lady?" the Alex in the leather jacket asked. "Because I count eight of us and that's about seven too many."

"Alex Danvers of Earth 5, you are the embodiment of Alex's confidence. You were brought back to ensure that the single Alex Danvers who will exist on the single Earth going forward will have all the confidence she needs."

"And who is that person? That single Alex Danvers?" the Alex in the pantsuit asked.

"Your essences will be placed within Alex Danvers of Earth 38."

"Wait, what?" Alex sputtered.

"Your sister, the Paragon, made it clear that you needed to be who returned to life on Earth. She wouldn't cooperate without that condition."

"Cooperate? Cooperate with what?"

"That is a long story," Harbinger said. "We must merge these seven others into you shortly if the plan is to succeed."

"Now hold on a second," Alex of Earth 5 said, "no one's taking my essence without taking me."

"It is time," Harbinger said.

"No!" she cried, "I'm not going anywhere without Maggie."

"None of us are," said the Alex in the pantsuit.

"Indeed," said the Alex in the skirt.

"You'll have to get through me," said the runner.

"And me," said the doctor, setting her face.

"Not without assurances that Maggie's okay," said another Alex.

"All of our Maggies," said yet another.

Harbinger looked at them all impassively and turned to Alex. "I suppose you also would like to safeguard your Maggie Sawyer, if you can?"

Her heart ached. To see the other seven of her fighting fiercely to ensure that their Maggies were okay… She let out a breath. "I have conditions, Harbinger," she said, a little steel creeping into her voice.

"What are they?"

"First, Kelly Olsen is to be reunited with her fiancée," she said. "That isn't negotiable." If she wasn't going to be with Kelly, then she would make sure Kelly was happy.

"That has already been seen to by the merging of those representatives," Harbinger acknowledged.

"Great. Then yes, my Maggie Sawyer has to be all right. All of our Maggies, Harbinger." She looked at the others. "I'll make it right," she promised. "I'll go to her."

"You'd better," grumbled Alex-5.

"Only one Maggie Sawyer may be the dominant one, though we may infuse her with the essences of these others, if you choose."

She looked out at her doppelgangers. "I think that's a no-brainer, right?"

"But who'll be the real Maggie, the way you're the real Alex?" one of them asked.

She turned to Harbinger. "Has that been decided?"

"It will be the Maggie Sawyer of Earth 38."

"Why her Maggie?" demanded the Alex of Earth 5. "Why not mine?"

"Or mine?"

"Or mine?"

It was like an eerie echo, hearing each Alex having already accepted her own fate, but each fighting for a chance that their Maggie may yet live on.

They were right, Alex decided. What she and Maggie had, it had been real. It should have been enough to have Maggie. Kids would have been fun, but if she couldn't have kids with Maggie, did she even want kids?

"It has been decided," Harbinger said. "There are cosmic forces at play beyond your mortal understanding. Each of your Maggies will impart her essence upon the one of Earth 38, as each of you will impart your essence upon this Alex." She turned to the Alex in the jacket. "Alex Danvers of Earth 5, it is time."

"Don't fuck this up for us, Danvers," she spat. "Or I will haunt you. Forever."

"I promise," she said. "I promise, Alex."

"Do it, lady. Before I change my mind."

The Alex in front of her vanished and Alex felt a pure shot of confidence infuse her. "Wow." Maybe they really could pull this all off. Maybe Kara and everyone really had succeeded. Maybe all of this would be over and she could reconcile with Maggie. No, not maybe. She  _ would  _ reconcile with Maggie.

"Alex Danvers of Earth 6," Harbinger said, addressing the Alex in the pantsuit. "Your essence will be merged next. You have been selected due to your immense amount of knowledge and your curious spirit. These traits will serve Alex Danvers well."

She nodded. "When you get back together with Maggie, you should both hang out at a trivia night at a local bar," she said. "Trust me."

"I will," she promised.

Like her predecessor, Alex-6 vanished and suddenly, Alex's mind felt expansive. She'd never felt stupid before, unless she was flirting with a pretty girl, but she now understood just how brilliant her counterpart was.

"Alex Danvers of Earth 10," Harbinger addressed the Alex in the jeans and sweater. "You have been selected as your caring nature is the ideal way to balance Alex's natural rough edges. Your ability to cultivate love and friendship will serve her well."

She smiled at Alex, tears in her eyes. "Take her bowling, okay, Alex?"

"Bowling?"

"Please."

"Of course."

And then she was gone. Inside, Alex felt her heart heave. It was like that old cartoon of the Grinch, whose heart grew three sizes. She felt everything so much more keenly.

"Alex Danvers of Earth 24," said Harbinger, addressing the Alex wearing nice slacks and a dress shirt. "Selected for your keen intellect and strategic mind, your abilities to work within and just outside of the rules will be useful."

She nodded and looked over at Alex. "You take care of my Sunshine, all right, nerd?"

"I will."

As she vanished, Alex felt her mind expand in another sense. Her problem-solving abilities had never been bad, but now she felt as though she could out-think anything, anyone. Except maybe for one Maggie Sawyer.

"Alex Danvers of Earth 27," she said, looking at the Alex in scrubs.

"I know. It's time," she said.

"Your ability to care for others, to put their needs ahead of your own will be added to Alex Danvers of Earth 38."

"She's already got a fair bit of that, I think," Alex-27 said.

"Yes, though it's limited to those for whom she personally cares. You place no limits on your empathy for others, Alex Danvers of Earth 27."

She smiled. "I have nothing inspiring to say, Alex. Just… make sure you help those who need it."

"You sound like Kara."

"I think I'm finally understanding that we could all stand to be a little more like our sister."

With that, she was gone and Alex suddenly felt so much  _ more  _ for everyone. "Harbinger, is everyone going through something like this right now?"

"In a manner of speaking," she replied. "We're paying special attention to you due to your sister's importance."

She nodded and promised to herself that she'd do whatever she could to help ease everyone's transition to the new world, if that was needed.

"Alex Williams of Earth 34," Harbinger said, addressing the Alex wearing a skirt, who looked as though she could have been pulled right out of the 1950s on her own Earth. "You have undergone intense adversity. You have lived in hiding for so long, first hiding from yourself, then hiding your secret from everyone around you, before hiding your relationship with Maggie. Your ability to withstand that kind of environment is what will give Alex Danvers of Earth 38 the strength to continue on in whatever adversity awaits her on the new Earth."

"Find her, Alex," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Find Maggie and tell her you love her like you've never told her before. And never let her go. Be proud of being with her. Be grateful that you can be open about it."

She nodded, silently. There were no words for what this Alex had seen, had been through.

When she was gone, Alex closed her eyes, and she knew the pain the other woman had suffered. She knew just how lucky she was to even know Maggie, much less have the chance to love her.

"Finally, Alex Danvers of Earth 42," she said, turning to the athlete. "Your sheer determination and physical strength will be required."

"Yeah, I figured," she grinned. "Go for the gold, Danvers. You can do it. Never give up." She held up her fist and as Alex made contact with her own, the other woman vanished. It infused Alex with a burst of strength and a clarity of mind that she'd never quite been able to achieve on her own.

"And now, Harbinger?"

"And now, Alex Danvers of Earth," she said, "it begins."

***

At first, there was nothing.

And then, all at once, life returned to Alex.

She gasped, her lungs desperate to breathe. She sat bolt upright, gasping to draw in air, trying to calm down.

Once she'd caught her breath, she looked around. It was dark. Where was she? She frowned. Was she in her own bed? She leaned over and fumbled for where the light should have been and, to her surprise, she found it. She turned it on, the harsh glare causing her to look away.

She grabbed her phone and looked at the time. It was January 1, 2020, and it was just past midnight.

"Someone's sense of humour is questionable," she muttered, as she navigated to her contact list and tapped one of two saved numbers.

She put the phone to her ear and waited.

"Danvers?"

"Maggie," she breathed. "Happy New Year."

"Nerd," she laughed.

It awoke a flood of memories for Alex. "Guilty as usual, Sunshine," she said, testing if this Maggie really was an amalgamation of her counterparts' Maggies.

A sharp intake of breath confirmed it. "Alex?"

"I'm here."

"What… what happened?"

"It's a long story," she said. "Why don't I come to you and I'll tell you everything."

There was a pause. "Okay," she said, uncertainly.

She got to Maggie's place in record time, bounding up the stairs like she ran track for a living, and rapped loudly on her door.

Maggie opened it up quickly. "Hey," she said.

"Maggie Sawyer," she said, gently. "Boy, are you ever a sight for sore eyes."

She blushed. "Get in here."

Alex did and as soon as Maggie shut the door, Alex kissed her deeply. "I am so sorry for everything," she whispered, pulling back for a moment, looking at her deep in the eyes. "I love you."

Something inside Alex clicked, and she knew that all seven other Alex Danvers were staring deep into the souls of all seven other Maggie Sawyers.

"I've missed you," Maggie whispered.

"Never again," she promised. "We'll never have to miss each other again."

She wrapped her arms around the woman she loved and knew, for the first time in a very long time, that everything would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> No other Alex Danvers or Maggie Sawyers were damaged in the making of this fic. None of this will be considered canon in my [52 Times series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/987597).


End file.
